The ‘Fundación Yannick y Ben Jakober’ is located in Mallorca’s north, close to the tourist city Alcudia on the finca Sa Bassa Blanca. The site with the house are close to the ocean and it is totally integrated into nature, being declared a biological reserve. Founded in 1993, the foundation is dedicated to the conservation and restauration of the Spanish cultural heritage. Over the years, the foundation was able to gather an important collection of art works, displayed at different spots around the whole area. The protagonist of all the collections is the children portrait collection ‘Colección Nins’, which is one of the most original collections in Europe.

The married couple Yannick Vu and Ben Jakober are the founders of the foundation. Yannick Vu – the president of the foundation – comes from a French family, which has always been close to the art world. Ben Jakober is the son of collector family of impressionist art. The site Sa Bassa Blanca is dominated by the main building, inspired in Spanish-Moorish architecture, designed by the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy in 1978. The construction incorporates antiques from Andalucia and Morocco and is shaped by white walls, copulas, terraces and a typical Moorish interior courtyard with gardens and fountains. The main house is home to the Karlweis wing and the library, containing 7.000 books about art and history. Moreover, the site is comprised of a rose garden designed by Yannick Vu, which displays 100 different rose species, a sculpture garden and two underground exposition halls.

The most important collection is the ‘Colección Nins’ which opened in 1994 and features 150 children portraits from the 16th to 19th century. The collection is located in the subterranean ‘Aljibe’, an ancient water reservoir. Originating from different parts of Europe, some are declared historic heritage. This collection started over 40 years ago, with the first painting by the painter Joan Mestre i Bosch, a portrait of a girl with cherries. The main part of the works represent persons of the high class and the nobility during their childhood, only some represent the bourgeoisie. Walking through the exposition, you will see the change and evolution in robe, accessories, toys and other elements of the daily life.

Walking through the sculpture park you will feel like in a zoo made up of huge granite stone sculptures. They are made by Ben Jakober and Yannick Vu and are inspired by statues from the ancient times. The sculpture park is especially interesting and designed for children.

The Socrates space is the newest exhibition hall, which was inaugurated in 2007. The room and its collection are inspired in Einstein’s theory of space and time. 10.000 Swarovski crystals form a spectacular crystal curtain, which is seven meter wide and four meter high. Furthermore, you will find a fossil of a rhinoceros and works of the famous Mallorcan artist Miquel Barceló as well as works of Ben Jakober and Yannick Vu.

The Karlweis wing is home to a contemporary art collection. The first floor exhibits works of Ben Jakober and the installation ‘Dreaming Stones’ which was especially created for this collection by the German artist Rebecca Horn. A selection of painting by Domenico Gnoli, which were painted on Mallorca in the late 60ies, are also part of this collection. Since 2014, the Karlweis area also includes a portrait collection of important and fundamental artists from the 20th and 21st century, taken by the famous German art critic Werner Kruger. The second floor holds sculptures of Yannick’s father Vu Cao Dam.